Thursday, February 28, 2008

Leaving soon

Its about time to go, I will be flying out Sat morning.

Psa 113:4-8
4 - The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
5 - Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
6 - Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
7 - He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
8 - That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

We serve a great Saviour, high above all nations, worthy of all praise and honour and glory. He has to humble himself to look at us and yet He humbled Himself to become like us and and be crucified by and for us. What love and what mercy that He would lift us up out of the dunghill of sin and wickedness and allow us to be a joint-heir with Christ, a child of God, part of His family and give us access to His throne room.

Since it will be a busy schedule I wanted to post some prayer requests and ask if you would join me in asking the Lord to accomplish His will in these areas regarding the trip.

The agenda right now is to work with my friends - Bro. Jun Monderin and Sister Joyce Monderin in their Jail ministry. We will be preaching through the two weeks at various city jails in the Manila region as well as one of the local churches.

1) That souls would be impacted. I was reminded last night in a message of all the evil that is becoming legalized in NY and how further legislation is working its way through to open the floodgates of abortion, homosexuality and gambling even more. It is vital that there are watchmen who are standing against this and yet the key to remember is exactly what the preacher said - they are souls for whom Christ died. No matter the person, no matter the sin - Christ died for them. My sin was just as vile and only the blood could help. If we could rid the world of laws that allow these wicked sins it would make no difference if the perpetrators still die in their sin. God forbid we ever be satisfied with letting people go to hell so long as they dont committ the sins that are most grievous to us.
Pray that these inmates in the Philippines as well as those on the streets will be receptive to the Gospel - if even one soul were saved, it would be worth any physical, financial or emotional toll we could ever endure in the process.
2) That Jun and Joyce would be encouraged and refreshed. These are dear servants of our Jesus, they have given up professional careers to preach to the imprisoned masses of the Philippines - pray they would be blessed and recharged through fellowship and prayer. Pray also for their financial needs, they need to raise some additional support to fund their ministry as they have added multiple new jails recently.
3) For my family. This by far in the hardest part of travel for me and them - not being there to love and help. That Steph would have energy and wisdom and that my four little girls would get through this time without daddy being home. May God's abundant grace be poured out on them all through these weeks.
4) For strength, clarity of thought and God's leading for me. That i would preach what God would have me to, that I would be a testimony in the workplace and do above the expectation of my company while working and that I would get to know and love God more than I ever have during this time.
5) For victory over the tremendous temptations and sinful influences around the prisoners who have been saved. That they would grow in grace and would submit to God's will. God certainly can hear prayer through the bars of a prison - would that these men would be prayer warriors for the cause of missions around the world and reach their fellow inmates for Christ.
6) That I would progress in learning the culture and other considerations in preparation for our transition over there full time in the future.

We appreciate your prayer very much!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Lord opens the door...Again!

We serve an amazing God!

As many of you know, I am still employed at a major company that has sent me on 3 trips to the Philippines in the past. God has used these trips to show me the need for the gospel there and the amazing open doors that are just waiting on labourers. He has used these trips to direct our paths to serve Him as missionaries in this country and also allowed these weeks over there to establish great relationships with families that have become dear friends and mentors.


With deputation just about to start - (our first missions conference just over a month away) and the anticipation of leaving the company in the not so distant future, I thought my free missions trips were over... Not so fast!

I was told last friday that there is a window for me to go back for training for 2 weeks starting March 1st - praise the Lord! Just today I had permisision to book the trip and begin preparations. The timing really is outstanding o go back one more time before getting into the upcoming meeting schedule. My heart has desired to get back there since I returned last February - it is amazing to think that this is the 4th consecutive year that I will be able to spend 2 weeks in the land of our calling with the provision coming totally of God!


My line of work is in call centers and so those I train work overnight shifts since they support US customers - this allows for me to work at night and minister by day. God has supernaturally helped me on the 3 previous trips with very little sleep and has always been so good to my family while I am gone. I do not take this for granted and know that the prayers of my brothers and sisters have been a major reason in God showing His mercy in these areas - so I am asking again.


We would appreciate your prayer that God would be glorified, my work would be better than the company would even expect, that the doors to minister will be open, that my family would enjoy good health and peace while I am away and that God would teach me more about Him and His plan for us in this country.

As the Lord allows I will update the blog and hopefully add some pictures when I can. Your prayer is greatly appreciated. I will leave March 1 and return on the 17th.

For the glory of His name,

aaron